Should you continue renting or buy property? The first-time homebuyer’s sometimes lengthy debate.
If you’re currently questioning whether a home purchase would benefit your current economical situation, then you should utilize the free, online tool that is proving its usefulness abundantly: the Canadian mortgage calculator.
The online mortgage calculator does all the math for you, and is a great asset in determining your true budget for home buying. Mortgage calculators can go beyond down payment, amortization length and interest rate. Many mortgage calculators factor in some of the items you may, in the zeal of home shopping, overlook.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) offers three very practical mortgage calculators to get your home buying strategy on track: the household budget calculator, the mortgage payment calculator, and the mortgage affordability calculator. These calculators can take into consideration some of the additional home buying costs that one should include in determining their accurate home buying financial plan, such as:
- Property tax
- Interest premiums
- Closing costs and legal fees
- Mortgage insurance
- Utilities and heating bills
- Association or condominium complex fees
- Moving costs
- Urgent repairs
- Auto insurance and vehicle payments
If you are using a mortgage calculator to establish your monthly payment schedule with premiums added, be sure to still figure the above costs into your budget and investigate property taxes for the area you are looking to buy in.
Mortgage calculators can also provide you wiith a long-term, detailed breakdown of your entire amortization period. Try inputing various figures into several mortgage calculators, and use them to deduce which rates, terms and products will equate you paying down your mortgage fastest, with less funds going to interest premiums over time and more allocated to the principal loan amount. See how much even 0.5 per cent variance in a rate can make over a five-year term on an average mortgage of $400,000.
Mortgage calculators are fast, simple and easy to use, and can also be an eye-opening step in the home budgeting procedure. Start configuring the numbers suitable to your mortgage plan with an online mortgage calculator before you start frequenting show homes.
